"Pledge" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... are known," said Brother Basil with a certain edge to his voice that Padraig knew well. "I think, however, that he really believes he has had dealings with the werewolf. There are men who would run, shaking with terror, to pledge their souls to the foul fiend if they saw their profit in it. If he knew the truth he could sell his knowledge easily, and I am not disposed to undeceive him now. Since Ruric gave me his promise to end this evil I have thought ...
— Masters of the Guild • L. Lamprey
... And till I return I will leave these in pledge with you; but these and no other I must give to the Messenger, for he has already seen them and might discover the difference; also I have promised ...
— The Wizard • H. Rider Haggard
... word. Back of Five-Mile Point is a picturesque rocky gorge called Mohican Canyon, through which a brook ripples, with clumps of fern and rose peeping from the crevices of its rugged walls. Having fulfilled his pledge, Deerslayer soon ventured the dash for liberty that so nearly succeeded; and, after making a circuit of the slope, it was along the ridge of Mohican Canyon that he ran at top speed to try a plunge for the lake, with the whole band of Indians ...
— The Story of Cooperstown • Ralph Birdsall
... sovereign as custom demanded, but only slightly pressing her hand to his lips—"your highness, I have redeemed my word and fulfilled my promise. I promised to liberate you from Biron and make you regent, and I have kept my word. Now, madame, it is for you to fulfil your pledge! You solemnly promised that when I should succeed in making you regent, you would immediately and unconditionally grant me whatever I might demand. Well, now, you are regent, and I come to proffer ...
— The Daughter of an Empress • Louise Muhlbach
... we wrest from the angel of this hour any blessing so priceless as the common resolution that we shall not have come to this consecrated spot only to declare our joy and gratitude, nor only to cherish proud and tender memories, but also to pledge ourselves to union ...
— American Missionary, August, 1888, (Vol. XLII, No. 8) • Various
... They told us their story. Two of them, as you may see, are not common sailors, but gentlemen of position, favourites of their Queen, bosom friends and lovers of Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, Grenville, Whiddon, and all the mighty English captains. They want to get home. Take them as they are. I'll pledge my life they'll serve you faithfully and cheerfully, and they'll insure your cargo against seizure by their friends! Mark that; their presence aboard the Donna Philippa will assure her the polite and friendly attentions of every English captain on the high seas. ...
— Sea-Dogs All! - A Tale of Forest and Sea • Tom Bevan
... pledge to make me blest In gazing when alone;[p] Nor one memorial for a breast, Whose thoughts are ...
— The Works Of Lord Byron, Vol. 3 (of 7) • Lord Byron
... indefinitely. He had seen the "personal" warning in both the morning and the afternoon papers. He guessed that the presence of the ranger Bucky O'Connor in Saguache was not a chance. The law was closing in on him. Somehow Cullison must be made to come through with a relinquishment and a pledge not to prosecute. The only other way out would be to let Blackwell wreak his hate on the former sheriff. From this he shrank with every instinct. Fendrick was a hard man. He would have fought it out to a finish if necessary. But murder was a thing ...
— Crooked Trails and Straight • William MacLeod Raine
... alarmed," he added, with a smile; "I harbor no darker design than the protection of our property, and I pledge my word that if the village is attacked, or if there is any appearance of danger, I will come home ...
— The Downfall • Emile Zola
... great bait was Emancipation, which they were privately assured would never be carried as long as the Irish Parliament existed, but might safely be conceded once it had ceased to exist. No actual pledge was made to that effect, but there was unquestionably an understanding, and Lord Castlereagh, the Chief Secretary, was untiring in his efforts to lull them into security upon ...
— The Story Of Ireland • Emily Lawless
... peerage in 1828 he carried to the House of Lords the enthusiastic homage as well as the great expectations of the crowd. Lord Durham was the idol of the Radicals, and his presence in the Grey Administration was justly regarded as a pledge of ...
— Lord John Russell • Stuart J. Reid
... poor Master Gookin have thrust his dangerous guest into the street. But there was a constraint and terror within him. This respectable old gentleman, we fear, at an earlier period of life, had given some pledge or other to the Evil Principle, and perhaps was now to redeem it by the ...
— The International Monthly, Volume 5, No. 3, March, 1852 • Various
... given her my word I wouldn't deliver the enclosure. The passionate movement, at any rate, with which, in solitude, I transferred the whole thing, unopened, from my pocket to a drawer which I double-locked would have amounted, for an initiated observer, to some such pledge. ...
— The Coxon Fund • Henry James
... pledge our solemn oath Christmas Tree, that we will not attempt to visit dwarfland again, or molest the dwarfs in any way, by offering them modern inventions for which they have no use, etc., etc., or by revealing their secret chambers to ...
— Fairy Tales from the German Forests • Margaret Arndt
... remarkably well, though of course, when cornered, he could always fall back upon the excuse of his mouth being closed by the official pledge of secrecy. ...
— The Motor Pirate • George Sidney Paternoster
... said, "I hev need ter know 'em an' I'm beholden ter ye. Ef they're false ye've done struck me a blow I kain't nuver fergive, an' I don't see how you an' me kin both go on livin'. I aims ter find out fer myself, an' meanwhile—I'll keep my pledge ter ye." He paused, then the leader triumphed over the ...
— The Roof Tree • Charles Neville Buck
... circumstance, my cherished one,' observed the Doctor—'this coffee is adorable—a very fortunate circumstance upon the whole—Anastasie, I beseech you, go without that poison for to-day; only one day, and you will feel the benefit, I pledge my reputation.' ...
— The Merry Men - and Other Tales and Fables • Robert Louis Stevenson
... very sweet of you to be so tender with her. It was noble of you to be severe with her too, and to make her go through purgatorial fires. That is what good women always do with the injured of their own sex. It is a kind of pledge and badge of their purity, and it is a safeguard and shield, whatever the unthinking may say. I love you for your severity to the poor soiled dove, my dear one, just as much as I love you for your tenderness. ...
— The Eternal City • Hall Caine
... uneasy, ladies," said the porter as he went out; "I will go and assure the good man, that he will not have to remain long in pledge." ...
— The Wandering Jew, Complete • Eugene Sue
... to you, Dr. Pemberton, must be under the pledge of confidence," I replied; "otherwise I shall keep my ...
— Miriam Monfort - A Novel • Catherine A. Warfield
... like her in person, and drain publicly the cup of failure. But though the rest of us escape this crowning bitterness of the pillory, we all court in essence the same humiliation. We all profess to be able to delight. And how few of us are! We all pledge ourselves to be able to continue to delight. And the day will come to each, and even to the most admired, when the ardour shall have declined and the cunning shall be lost, and he shall sit by his deserted booth ashamed. Then ...
— Across The Plains • Robert Louis Stevenson
... and plunder, keep them in prison, and inflict all manner of tortures upon them, till they have paid, or pledged themselves to pay, all that they have or can borrow from their friends, as their ransom. If they refuse to pay, or to pledge themselves to pay the sum demanded, they murder them. If they pay part, and pledge themselves to pay the rest within a certain time, they are released; and if they fail to fulfil their engagements, they ...
— A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, Volumes I & II • William Sleeman
... pledge of love. The soul's abyss, Christ saw, the heart of night, the purse, the end; Knew all, a Man, and knowing stui could bend With soul ...
— Quiet Talks with World Winners • S. D. Gordon
... black community supported both possibilities. Also testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Truman Gibson, who was a member of the Compton Commission that had objected to segregation, expressed "shock and dismay" at Randolph's pledge and predicted that Negroes would continue to participate in the country's defense effort.[12-39] For his pains Gibson was branded a "rubber stamp Uncle Tom" by Congressman Adam Clayton Powell. The black press, for the most part, applauded Randolph's analysis of the mood of Negroes, ...
— Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 • Morris J. MacGregor Jr.
... accounted for, as we know that they were usually connected with Madame Hanska, and that Balzac's sense of honour would not allow him to breathe her name, except to his most intimate friends, and under the pledge of the strictest secrecy. His letters to her have allowed a flood of light to pour upon his hitherto veiled personality; but they are almost our only reliable source of information. Therefore, when they cease, because Balzac is with his ladylove, and we ...
— Honore de Balzac, His Life and Writings • Mary F. Sandars
... faith. The artist that sent this unframed picture to be hung in a corner of the literary gallery was equal to larger tasks. There was but one voice in the circle that surrounded the young essayist. He must redeem his pledge, he can and will redeem it, if he will only follow the bent of his genius and grapple with the heroic labor of ...
— Memoir of John Lothrop Motley, Complete • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
... that Bunyan, who had been so severe a sufferer under the old penal statutes, should desire their abrogation, and express his readiness to "steer his friends and followers" to support candidates who would pledge themselves to vote for their repeal. But no further would he go. The Bedford Corporation was "regulated," which means that nearly the whole of its members were removed and others substituted by royal order. Of these new members some six or seven were leading ...
— The Life of John Bunyan • Edmund Venables
... sister, and by Fantina Bragadino and Moreta Dolphyno, daughters, and all three Trustees of the late Domina Donata, relict of Dominus Marcus Polo of S. Giov. Grisostomo, to Dominus Raynuzo Dolphyno of the same, on account of 24 lire of grossi[10] which the Lady Donata Polo had advanced to him on pledge of many articles. Dated 4th March, 1336. The witnesses and notary are the same ...
— The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 2 • Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa
... McClellan and was long his intimate friend. Lincoln believed the story; so may we. The Mayor of New York, a shifty demagogue named Fernando Wood, had visited McClellan in the Peninsula with a proposal that he should become the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, and with a view to this should pledge himself to certain Democratic politicians to conduct the war in a way that should conciliate the South, which to Lincoln's mind meant an "inefficient" way. McClellan, after some days of unusual reserve, told Smith ...
— Abraham Lincoln • Lord Charnwood
... she said, 'until I have done what I can to repay my father for all that he has tried to do for me. I must be uneducated and re-educated. It may take a long time. Meanwhile you may meet some one you like better. I'm not going to pledge you to wait for me. Of course I shall be awfully proud and pleased if you do wait, but, Dan, I want you to be free. Let's both be free ...
— Keeping up with Lizzie • Irving Bacheller
... lord? Upon my soul, I do not disdain her. Whatever the penalty may be, I cannot marry a wife or tarry here. I shall follow the damsel who is my guide: for otherwise it cannot be. But, with your consent, I will pledge you my right hand, and you may take my word, that, just as you see me now, I will return if possible, and then will accept your daughter's hand, whenever it may seem good ro you." "Confound any one," he says, "who asks you for your word or promise or pledge. If my daughter pleases you, ...
— Four Arthurian Romances - "Erec et Enide", "Cliges", "Yvain", and "Lancelot" • Chretien de Troyes
... that I shall taste her marmalade cautiously at first. Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.[318] Beware, says the Italian proverb, of a reconciled enemy. But when I find it does me no harm, I shall then receive it and be thankful for it, as a pledge of firm, and, I hope, of unalterable kindness. She is, after ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 3 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill
... said to him, "Welcome to thee, O Judar! Dost thou want bread?" But he was silent and the baker continued, "An thou have no dirhams, take thy sufficiency and thou shalt get credit." So Judar said, "Give me ten coppers' worth of bread and take this net in pledge." Rejoined the baker, "Nay, my poor fellow, the net is thy gate of earning thy livelihood, and if I take it from thee, I shall close up against thee the door of thy subsistence. Take thee ten Nusfs' worth of bread and take these other ten, ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 6 • Richard F. Burton
... hear this from you, sir," answered Evert. "When your opinions were canvassed lately at Albany, I gave a sort of pledge that you were certainly more with us than ...
— Wyandotte • James Fenimore Cooper
... we mistaken, my countrymen, in attaching this importance to the Constitution of our country? Was our devotion paid to the wretched, inefficient, clumsy contrivance which this new doctrine would make it? Did we pledge ourselves to the support of an airy nothing—a bubble that must be blown away by the first breath of disaffection? Was this self-destroying, visionary theory the work of the profound statesmen, the exalted patriots, to whom the task of constitutional reform was intrusted? ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, - Vol. 2, Part 3, Andrew Jackson, 1st term • Edited by James D. Richardson
... darling, as a pledge of my return. If I do not come back within three years, you may know that I am dead, and then you must keep them as a souvenir of him ...
— File No. 113 • Emile Gaboriau
... their incessant exertions, could no longer resist the overwhelming odds brought against him. Still, he maintained a brave front, and once again his cheery words, and unfeigned good temper, and the example set them by the aged doge, had their effect; but the soldiers required a pledge that, if Zeno should not be signalled in sight by New Year's Day, he would raise the siege. If Pisani and the doge would pledge themselves to this, the people agreed to maintain the struggle for ...
— The Lion of Saint Mark - A Story of Venice in the Fourteenth Century • G. A. Henty
... as you say, that you, though a stranger, have received kindness at the hands of me and mine, I adjure you to reveal nothing to any other of our people respecting the world from which you came, unless, on consideration, I give you permission to do so. Do you consent to this request?" "Of course I pledge my word, to it," said I, somewhat amazed; and I extended my right hand to grasp his. But he placed my hand gently on his forehead and his own right hand on my breast, which is the custom amongst this race in all matters of promise or verbal ...
— The Coming Race • Edward Bulwer Lytton
... the fight, my young brother, and take up the pledge which was made for you when you were a helpless child. This world, and all others, time and eternity, for you hang upon the issue. This enemy must be met and vanquished—not finally, for no man while on earth I suppose, can say that he is slain; but, when ...
— Tom Brown at Oxford • Thomas Hughes
... I take full revenge on the murderers of the good Louis of Bourbon, whether I find them in forest or field, in city or in country, in hill or in plain, in King's Court or in God's Church! and thereto I pledge hands and living, friends and followers, life and honour. So help me God, and Saint Lambert of Liege, and the Three Kings ...
— Quentin Durward • Sir Walter Scott
... had become animated and had regained his self-possession. He believed in his scheme, and was ready to pledge his future. He argued that his aunt could not blame him for giving proof of his energy and daring, and he discoursed in ...
— Serge Panine, Complete • Georges Ohnet
... reign, Though urged by all the twice-born(29) train. Forth to the woods he fared to meet His brother, fell before his feet, And cried, "Thy claim all men allow: O come, our lord and king be thou." But Rama nobly chose to be Observant of his sire's decree. He placed his sandals(30) in his hand A pledge that he would rule the land: And bade his brother turn again. Then Bharat, finding prayer was vain, The sandals took and went away; Nor in Ayodhya would he stay. But turned to Nandigrama, where He ...
— The Ramayana • VALMIKI
... awhile," a drunkard would reply, when repeatedly urged by his wife to sign the pledge; "but I don't like to break off at once, the best way is to get used to a thing." "Very well, old man," said his wife, "see if you don't fall into a hole one of these days, with no one to ...
— How to Succeed - or, Stepping-Stones to Fame and Fortune • Orison Swett Marden
... of the earth heard the first commandment, they said: "There is no king that does not like to see himself acknowledged as sovereign, and just so does God desire His people to pledge unto Him their allegiance." At the second commandment they said: "No king suffers a king beside himself, nor does the God of Israel." At the third commandment they said: "Is there a king that would like to have people swear false oaths ...
— THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME III BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS - FROM THE EXODUS TO THE DEATH OF MOSES • BY LOUIS GINZBERG
... brick ovens, and fastened together on the morning of the day. There was a general sigh when this fell into ruin at the feast's end, and it was shared by a great part of the assembly, not without seriousness, and as if it were a pledge and token of loyalty. I met the maker of the gingerbread house, which had called up lively remembrances of a childish story. She had the gleaming eye of an enthusiast and a look of ...
— The Country of the Pointed Firs • Sarah Orne Jewett
... the Wolf had snarled, and the underworld had listened, and the underworld was waiting now—the Wolf had pledged himself to rid the Bad Lands of the terror that had crept upon it. He had sworn, and staked his reputation on his pledge, to "get" Larry the Bat, alias the Gray Seal—and in the eyes of the underworld, as the underworld sighed with relief, it was already accomplished, for the ...
— The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale • Frank L. Packard
... any other person except to the author who wishes to preserve his anonymity, and is questioned. The parallel does not apply to Ben. HE had not written the Shakespearean plays. Nobody was asking HIM if he had written them. If he knew that the author was Bacon, and knew it under pledge of secrecy, and was asked (per impossibile) "Who wrote these plays?" he had only to say, "Look at the title-page." But no mortal was asking Ben the question. But we are to suppose that, in the panegyric and in Discoveries, Ben chooses to assert, first, that Shakespeare ...
— Shakespeare, Bacon and the Great Unknown • Andrew Lang
... all!" he said. "I give you a present, and you come to pledge it with me! You should have been one of our people! So you want to pledge the ...
— Harding's luck • E. [Edith] Nesbit
... without having full knowledge of the truth of the facts stated therein, and with intent to cheat, defraud, or injure the United States; any person in said forces or service who shall knowingly purchase or receive, in pledge for any obligation or indebtedness, from any soldier, officer, or other person called into or employed in said forces or service, any arms, equipments, ammunition, clothes, or military stores, or other public property, such soldier, officer, ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 6: Andrew Johnson • James D. Richardson
... best Augustus Caesar. He is sufficiently corrupt, selfish, and heartless for that dignity. He has a host of favorites that will easily form a Senate. He has a court in preparation, and the Praetorian bands in array. He can pick up a Livia anywhere. He has violated every pledge, adopted and abandoned every creed, been for and against every measure, is a believer in all religions by turns, and, like the first Caesar, has always been a republican and taken care of number one. He has called into ...
— Famous Americans of Recent Times • James Parton
... voice been clearer to him, or the Divine Fatherhood more real. Freely he had received—but only that he might freely give. On this Christmas night he renewed every past vow of the soul, and in so doing rose once more into that state and temper which is man's pledge and earnest of immortality—since already, here and now, it is the ...
— The History of David Grieve • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... permitted to leave it, in order to rejoin his father in France. In the mean time, advices were received from Ferdinand the Catholic, instructing Gonsalvo on no account to suffer the young prince to escape from his hands, as he was a pledge of too great importance for the Spanish government to relinquish. The general in consequence sent after the duke, who had proceeded in company with the count of Potenza as far as Bitonto, on his way to the north, ...
— The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella The Catholic, V3 • William H. Prescott
... compelled to sign its surrender. Within a generation Longchamp again surrendered it to the young Prince John; he was for the moment leading the aristocracy, which, when it was his turn to reign, betrayed him. It was surrendered to the baronial party by the King as a trust or pledge for the execution of Magna Charta, and though it was put into the hands of the Archbishop, who was technically neutral, it was from that moment the symbol of a successful rebellion, as it had already proved to be in the past and was to ...
— The Historic Thames • Hilaire Belloc
... towards heresy. When Sigismund indignantly protested against the violation of his safe-conduct, he was informed that the law did not recognize faith pledged to suspected heretics, for they were out of the king's jurisdiction. The council declared that no pledge which was prejudicial to the Catholic faith was to be observed. In judging Sigismund's failure to enforce his promise of protection to Huss it must be remembered that heresy was at that time considered a far more ...
— An Introduction to the History of Western Europe • James Harvey Robinson
... calling his name. An old friend had told Isabella that it would add great renown to her reign at a trifling expense if what the sailor believed should prove true. "It shall be done," said Isabella, "I will pledge my jewels to raise the money. Call ...
— Pushing to the Front • Orison Swett Marden
... not, sir!" exclaimed the first lieutenant warmly, and Mr Brine was not the man to neglect such a pledge. ...
— True Blue • W.H.G. Kingston
... mine own peril and cost, I refuse not to sustain this expectation from as many as are not loth to hazard so much credulity upon the best pledges that I can give them." And when he came to redeem his pledge, in the very opening lines of his epic, trusting to the same inspiration, he challenges the supremacy of ...
— Milton • Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh
... all the pickaxes of all the levellers of France. As long as our sovereign lord the king, and his faithful subjects, the lords and commons of this realm,—the triple cord which no man can break,—the solemn, sworn, constitutional frank-pledge of this nation,—the firm guaranties of each other's being and each other's rights,—the joint and several securities, each in its place and order, for every kind and every quality of property and of dignity,—as long as these ensure, so long the Duke of Bedford is safe, and we are all safe ...
— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. V. (of 12) • Edmund Burke
... Dunstable, and while there proved his spirit by getting up a miracle-play of "Sancta Katarina." He borrowed copes from St. Albans in which to dress the actors; unluckily a fire took place, and the costumes were burnt. Thereupon he seems to have rendered himself up as it were in pious pledge for their loss, for he became a monk. In 1119 he was elected abbot, and if we give him about twenty-one years in which to rise to that dignity, we can date the St. Katharine play at 1098 or 9. This passage in a life of ...
— Everyman and Other Old Religious Plays, with an Introduction • Anonymous
... chieftains of Greece to fulfil their pledge, and join him in his efforts to recover his wife. They generally came forward, but Ulysses, who had married Penelope, and was very happy in his wife and child, had no disposition to embark in such a troublesome affair. He therefore hung back and Palamedes was sent to urge him. When Palamedes ...
— Bulfinch's Mythology • Thomas Bulfinch
... the pledge which he had received. The revolver was lowered. Saltese was released from the embrace of the strong arm. McClellan strode out of the tent with his revolver in his hand. Not a hand was raised against him. He mounted ...
— Pushing to the Front • Orison Swett Marden
... to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine: Or leave a kiss but in the cup And I'll not look for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise ...
— Tristram of Blent - An Episode in the Story of an Ancient House • Anthony Hope
... refuse to redeem so dear a pledge? You have seen how I took head in hand and sat me down under your own roof-tree, my good Gavan of the keep. Faith, it was an even chance on which side the platter would fall, but this time the luck was mine. We should have been ...
— The Doomsman • Van Tassel Sutphen
... ended, a motion was made, and heartily agreed to by all present, that the young unmarried ladies should form themselves into an association by the name of the 'Whig Association of Unmarried Young Ladies of America,' in which they should pledge their honor that they would never give their hand in marriage to any gentleman until he had first proved himself a patriot, in readily turning out when called to defend his country from slavery, by a spirited and brave conduct, as they would not wish to be the mothers ...
— An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America • J. P. MacLean
... son Gratian, to whom all of you bear affection as a common pledge, who has long lived among your own children, I am, for the sake of securing the public tranquillity on all sides, about to take as my colleague in the imperial authority, if the propitious will of the ruler of heaven and of your dignity, shall co-operate with ...
— The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus • Ammianus Marcellinus
... in the train of night, If better thou belong not to the dawn, Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn ...
— The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 1 (of 4) - Contibutions to Knight's Quarterly Magazine] • Thomas Babington Macaulay
... know. . .whether it wishes us well or ill. . . that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge. . .and more. ...
— Kennedy's Inaugural Address
... night Was there for him, he said, only love is shining day, And calling on his young wife's name he passed away. Ethel, I've been so hungry often, and so chill, And what is ten times worse, have seen you faint and ill, And never yet have I foresworn my pledge; but now Our duty to the dead must plead my broken vow. Ethel, if my loved Father is with us to-night, Will he not stamp forgiveness on this dead as right? Perhaps in the morning light this howling storm will stay Its ...
— Victor Roy, A Masonic Poem • Harriet Annie Wilkins
... of the English language. I should much rather, therefore, have left the fight to others, content with being merely a looker-on. But when I was on the point of leaving England my conscience smote me. Though I had not actually given a pledge, I remembered how, again and again, I had said to Mr. Pitman that I would much rather keep than make a promise; and though overwhelmed with other work at the time, I felt that before my departure I ought, if possible, to satisfy Mr. Pitman's demands. The article was written; and though ...
— Chips From A German Workshop, Vol. V. • F. Max Mueller
... Anglo-Saxon. They were the common drinking pledges of the age. Wassail is equivalent to the phrase, "Your health," of the present day. Drinkhail, which literally signifies "drink health," was the usual acknowledgment of the other pledge. The carol from which the verses are quoted was evidently sung by the wandering minstrels who visited the castles of the Norman nobility at the festive ...
— Christmas: Its Origin and Associations - Together with Its Historical Events and Festive Celebrations During Nineteen Centuries • William Francis Dawson
... is entirely satisfactory, Mrs. Herndon," he said. "I can assure you I know absolutely nothing regarding her purpose of coming to me tonight. I realize quite clearly my own deficiencies, and pledge myself hereafter not to interfere with you in any way. You accept the trust, ...
— Bob Hampton of Placer • Randall Parrish
... the most yielding and self-effacing manners, he had the spirit of a paladin, and was afraid of nothing. He would empty his pockets—or if, as too often happened, they were already empty, he would pledge his credit to help a friend out of a hole; and, on the other hand, he was always hot upon the trail of a dazzling fortune, which, like Emerson's Forerunners, never was overtaken. It would not long ...
— Hawthorne and His Circle • Julian Hawthorne
... house like a thief because he had given his pledge and perforce had been made false to that pledge, because he had been despoiled of the concrete evidence of the trust reposed unasked in him, and because he had learned that his spoiler was to meet Stanistreet in this room ...
— The False Faces • Vance, Louis Joseph
... the girl. The young man was moved, he too, by that wind which bloweth where it listeth. He stretched out his hands through the gaping crowd and took hers, holding them between his own, to give her his pledge: and so swore by his faith, her hands in his hands, that he himself would conduct her to the King. "When will you go?" he said. "Rather to-day than to-morrow," answered the ...
— Jeanne d'Arc - Her Life And Death • Mrs.(Margaret) Oliphant
... pledge the lady caught; And hence, as legends say, The flower's a sign to awaken thoughts Of ...
— Bob Strong's Holidays - Adrift in the Channel • John Conroy Hutcheson
... are a dirty, thieving rascal, and a vile one to take advantage of one in my position. I shall return for the mule another day. Meanwhile consider it in pledge for what I owe you. But see that you are ready for the reckoning when ...
— The Strolling Saint • Raphael Sabatini
... they say, are one of those who love the people as your own children. A million pounds may enable them to hold out until they can secure practically what terms they like. Those million pounds are yours to-day, yours for the people, if you pledge your word to ...
— A People's Man • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... and the caps, collars, and aprons that are their distinctive badges. Their remaining expenses they provide for themselves. Those who have completed the full term of probation, and have proved their fitness for the office, must pledge themselves to a service of at least five years. At the end of the time they may renew the engagement or not, as they wish. Should a deaconess be needed at home by aged parents, or should she desire to marry, she is free to leave her duties, but is expected to ...
— Deaconesses in Europe - and their Lessons for America • Jane M. Bancroft
... was made and answered with an acuteness which we were not prepared for. But our explanation and mission were at length received, and the pledge of peace, the wampum-belts, were accepted and worn by the aged chiefs. My friend jogged my elbow once or twice, and thought they were eyeing him suspiciously, for he was to proceed into their country. He looked so fat and so healthy, that he thought ...
— Canada and the Canadians - Volume I • Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle
... long since first these wars begun; Nor thou, nor I, the better yet can have; Bad is the match where neither party won. I offer free conditions of fair peace, My heart for hostage that it shall remain. Discharge our forces, here let malice cease, So for my pledge thou give me pledge again. Or if no thing but death will serve thy turn, Still thirsting for subversion of my state, Do what thou canst, raze, massacre, and burn; Let the world see the utmost of thy hate; I send defiance, since if overthrown, Thou vanquishing, ...
— Elizabethan Sonnet Cycles - Idea, by Michael Drayton; Fidessa, by Bartholomew Griffin; Chloris, by William Smith • Michael Drayton, Bartholomew Griffin, and William Smith
... 1852, he saw an opportunity two years later of winning fame for Piedmont. The Russians were resisting the western powers which defended the dominions of the Porte. Ministers resigned and the country marvelled, but Cavour signed a pledge to send forces of 15,000 men to the Crimea to help Turkey against Russia. It would be well to prove that Italy retained the military virtues of her history after the defeat of Novara, he said in reply to all expostulations. The result showed the statesman's wisdom and justified his daring. ...
— Heroes of Modern Europe • Alice Birkhead
... from that question as I looked disconsolately at the fire. For the fugitive out on the marshes with the ironed leg, the mysterious young man, the file, the food, and the dreadful pledge I was under to commit a larceny on those sheltering premises, rose before me in the ...
— Great Expectations • Charles Dickens
... alliance that I advocate, and with all my heart I vote for its renewal. It is but just that the princes and rulers of the earth should give example to the world of good faith in their dealings; for the integrity of the sovereign is a pledge to all nations of ...
— Joseph II. and His Court • L. Muhlbach
... me into the house for paper and pencil, and then set Addison to write a pledge for the boys to sign. As nearly as I remember, it ...
— A Busy Year at the Old Squire's • Charles Asbury Stephens
... your right hand, every woman present who is willing to pledge herself to give never another dollar to foreign missions or to the support of the church until her children have schools nine ...
— The Co-Citizens • Corra Harris
... nose the Liberals kept sticking his father's pledge of the glorious year, 1813. How about that long-promised Constitution, your Majesty? Thousands of deluded Prussians now believed that they could accurately define the peculiar word "Liberty!" It looked as though the people ...
— Blood and Iron - Origin of German Empire As Revealed by Character of Its - Founder, Bismarck • John Hubert Greusel
... Field said if I wanted the place he could pledge me the President's appointment, and Senator Corners said he would guarantee me the Senate's confirmation. It was a great temptation, but it would render it impossible to fill my book contract, and I had to drop ...
— Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete - The Personal And Literary Life Of Samuel Langhorne Clemens • Albert Bigelow Paine
... to this circumstance, perhaps, may be attributed the fact, that though several letters were despatched, none of them ever reached my hands. He remained in the same place during the whole fourteen years. At the expiration of the term, steadily adhering to his old resolution and the pledge he gave his mother, he made his way back to England amidst innumerable difficulties, and returned, on foot, ...
— The Pickwick Papers • Charles Dickens
... strengthened the morbid impression I had received; whilst the remarkable incident I have adverted to served powerfully to rivet the superstitious chain which was continually gathering round me. The incident was this—and before I repeat it, let me pledge my word of honor, that I report to you the bare facts of the case, without exaggeration, and in the simplicity of truth:—There was at that time resident in the great city, which is the scene of my narrative, a woman, ...
— Narrative And Miscellaneous Papers • Thomas De Quincey
... might dare touch a rose, 'gainst his strict command opposed; Whoe'er would break the golden gates, or cut the silken thread, Or who would dare to crush the flowers down beneath his tread, Soon for his pride would have to pledge a foot and hand; Thus Laurin, king of Dwarfs, rules ...
— The Folk-lore of Plants • T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
... not of the goodness of God—in short, unbelief, which is my misfortune and my sin. Every act is a hostage delivered over to avenging destiny—there is the instinctive belief which chills and freezes; every act is a pledge confided to a fatherly providence, there is the ...
— Amiel's Journal • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... of Achaea gave in their adhesion to him; and on his personal authority Epaminondas insisted that there should be no driving of the aristocrats into exile, nor any modification of the constitution. He was content to take a pledge of fealty from the Achaeans to this effect: "Verily and indeed we will be your allies, and follow whithersoever the ...
— Hellenica • Xenophon
... and the Colonies had grown in wealth and population to such an extent that they were ready to drop from the parent stem if ever they would do so. Would Great Britain risk civil war at home and the loss of her Colonies abroad in order to vindicate her pledge given years before, to keep inviolate the frontiers of Belgium? The answer was the prompt declaration of war on Germany, the cessation of political warfare at home, abroad the splendid enthusiasm of the Colonies with ...
— The Red Watch - With the First Canadian Division in Flanders • J. A. Currie
... insult, noble Queen, Done in your maiden's person to yourself: And I will track this vermin to their earths; For tho' I ride unarm'd, I do not doubt To find, at some place I shall come at, arms On loan, or else for pledge; and, being found, Then will I fight him, and will break his pride, And on the third day will again be here, So that I be not fall'n ...
— Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 5 • Charles Sylvester
... wild, fierce. bravo, -a brave. bravura f.. bravado, fierceness, ferocity, boasting. brazo m. arm, embrace. breve adj. brief, short. bridn m. steed, bridle. brillante adj. brilliant, bright. brillar glisten, shine. brindar drink to one's health, offer, pledge. bro m. strength, courage, mettle, spirit, resolution. brisa f. breeze. broche m. clasp, brooch. brotar bud, bring forth, put forth, gush forth, shed. bruja f. witch. brutal adj. brutal. Bruto pr. n. m. Brutus. bueno, -a good, fine, pleasant. buja f. candle, ...
— El Estudiante de Salamanca and Other Selections • George Tyler Northup
... by way of vicarious substitution, its death would secure the safety of all who should pass over. There were some who found themselves, with a little surprise, looking round as if for a similar pledge of security in their new undertaking. It was just then that Denys was seen plainly, standing, in all essential features precisely as of old, upon one of the great stones prepared for the foundation of the new building. ...
— Imaginary Portraits • Walter Pater
... marked, it is true, the commencement of their union; but these, which, as can be proved by evidence, were almost all the unhappy lady's fault,—had happily ceased, to give place to sentiments far more delightful and tender. Gentlemen, Madame Peytel bore in her bosom a sweet pledge of future concord between herself and her husband: in three brief months she was to ...
— The Paris Sketch Book Of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh • William Makepeace Thackeray
... the world. Above were the words "Jesu Maria," and below were two angels, on their knees in adoration. Joan was fond of her sword, as she said two years afterwards at her trial, but she was forty times more fond of her banner, which was, in her eyes, the sign of her commission and the pledge of victory. On the completion of the preparations she demanded the immediate departure of the expedition. Orleans was crying for succor; Dunois was sending messenger after messenger; and Joan was in a greater hurry ...
— A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times - Volume III. of VI. • Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot
... quite spoiled in us, for he had this design to repair it and renew it better than of old, and for this end he hath created Christ according to his image. He hath stamped that image of holiness upon his flesh to be a pattern,—and not only so, but a pledge also,—of restoring such souls as flee unto him for refuge, unto that primitive glory and excellency. Know then, that he hath made his Son like unto us, that we might again be made like unto him. He said, let one of us be made man, in the counsel of redemption, that so it might again ...
— The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning • Hugh Binning
... all over this curious city, and kindly introduced me to one of the partners of a great mercantile house, who invited us both to dinner. We regaled ourselves on smelts, fillet of veal, and old English roast beef, to which hospitable meal we did ample justice, not forgetting to pledge our absent friends in bumpers ...
— Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West - The Experience of an Early Settler (Volume I) • Samuel Strickland
... silver pieces taken out of the booty sooner than perish. Write a brilliant article, and you will make brilliant progress in Finot's estimation; for Finot has a lively sense of benefits to come, and that sort of gratitude is better than any kind of pledge, pawntickets always excepted, for they invariably ...
— A Distinguished Provincial at Paris • Honore de Balzac
... pledge, I command you, this Flower of flowers, the high-born Princess of Baalbec, the niece of the Sultan, Salah-ed-din, whom men call the Great," and he sneered, "though he be not so great as I, this Queen of maids who soon—" Then, checking himself, he drank off his ...
— The Brethren • H. Rider Haggard
... should receive the secret upon such terms. At length he signified his consent, and the marquis arising, drew his sword from the scabbard.—'Here,' said he, offering it to Ferdinand, 'seal your vows—swear by this sacred pledge of honor never to repeat what I shall now reveal.' Ferdinand vowed upon the sword, and raising his eyes to heaven, solemnly swore. The marquis then resumed his seat, ...
— A Sicilian Romance • Ann Radcliffe
... self-respecting citizens. In this campaign of enlightenment, this bit of Red Cross service for the blinded soldiers and the blind adults of our civil communities, every one of you can help, and I feel sure it will be unnecessary for me to ask a pledge of co-operation from any one who has heard me speak this afternoon. The State Library is heartily with me in every phase of this campaign, and, with its co-operation and encouragement, I go fearlessly forward, overcoming obstacles, ...
— Five Lectures on Blindness • Kate M. Foley
... promise I won't get into any!" gasped Elizabeth in solemn pledge, all unconscious that it was equivalent to a promise from the ...
— 'Lizbeth of the Dale • Marian Keith
... That balanced with a word is more than noise; Yet Old Romance being kind, let him prevail Somewhere or somehow that I have forgot, Though he'd but cannon—Whereas we that had thought To have lit upon as clean and sweet a tale Have been defeated by that pledge you gave In momentary anger long ago; And I that have not your faith, how shall I know That in the blinding light beyond the grave We'll find so good a thing as that we have lost? The hourly kindness, the day's common speech, ...
— The Green Helmet and Other Poems • William Butler Yeats
... Now the sun being newly risen, they joined both together; the one part having together with their virtue their refuge also unto the Lord for a pledge of their success and victory: the other side making their rage leader of ...
— Deuteronomical Books of the Bible - Apocrypha • Anonymous
... truth, both the soft parts of the cheeks and the harder structure of the face, under which one can follow the bones of the nose and forehead.... Everything in the picture is spontaneous, and one can see that it is a pledge of friendship given by one artist to another; there is nothing here of that artificial arrangement that spoils commissioned portraits even when they are the work of a painter as independent as Velasquez was. One feels here the assurance ...
— Six Centuries of Painting • Randall Davies
... passed her door, And always found her kind; She freely lent to all the poor,— Who left a pledge behind. ...
— Goldsmith - English Men of Letters Series • William Black
... Dinah; her cheek was against Dinah's. It seemed as if her last faint strength and hope lay in that contact, and the pitying love that shone out from Dinah's face looked like a visible pledge of the ...
— Adam Bede • George Eliot
... Lady Ilbury, happy in the affection of a beloved and noblehearted husband. The shy useless girl you have known is now a mother—trying to be a good one; and this, the last pledge, has lived. ...
— Uncle Silas - A Tale of Bartram-Haugh • J.S. Le Fanu
... and obey his wife, or worship her with his body—whatever that may mean—as he solemnly vows to do in certain marriage services. The endowment with worldly goods and the worship promised, were perhaps put in as an offset to the pledge of service and obedience. Certainly the man's vow to worship his wife is no more inconsistent than is the woman's to obey implicitly; and her obedience, if it is not implicit, is not obedience at all, but is merely acceding to the wishes of her husband when ...
— Woman: Man's Equal • Thomas Webster
... even more to us, for she was our first from Benares, the heart of this great Hinduism; and her very presence seemed such a splendid pledge of ultimate victory. ...
— Lotus Buds • Amy Carmichael
... my mother, Lift to my western sweetheart One full cup of English mead, breathing of the may! Pledge the may-flower in her face that you and ah, none other, Sent her from the mother-land ...
— Collected Poems - Volume One (of 2) • Alfred Noyes
... thoughts that we ourselves feel shame at? It shamed me now, as I pulled my boat along, that I should have thoughts of John which needed banishing. What tale would this be to remember of a boy's life, that he gave it to buy freedom from a pledge which need never have been binding? What pearl was this to cast before the sophisticated Hortense? Such act would be robbed of its sadness by its absurdity. Yet, surely, the bitterest tragedies are those of which the central anguish is lost amid the dust of ...
— Lady Baltimore • Owen Wister
... the Marquess has told me all. I have no head for politics, Mr. Grey; but if I cannot assist you in managing the nation, I perhaps may in managing the family, and my services are at your command. Believe me, you will have enough to do: there, I pledge you my troth. Do you think ...
— Vivian Grey • The Earl of Beaconsfield
... gathering flowers singing all the while, and the maiden soon came before the king, and the king thereupon asked her, "Blessed one, who art thou and whose?" And she replied, "I am a maiden." And the king said, "I ask thee to be mine." And the maiden answered, "Give me a pledge, for then only I can be thine, else not." And the king then asked about the pledge and the girl answered, "Thou wilt never make me cast my eyes on water", and the king saying, "So be it," married her, and king Parikshit having married her sported (with her) in great joy, and ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Bk. 3 Pt. 2 • Translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
... agreed in this, and do you all pledge yourselves to abide the compact?" Spalding inquired again, bringing his rifle to a present, and ...
— Wild Northern Scenes - Sporting Adventures with the Rifle and the Rod • S. H. Hammond
... this afternoon, Jill?' I asked, rather curiously; but she did not answer for a moment, only drew down my hand, and looked at the diamonds that were flashing in the ruddy blaze,—Giles's pledge that he had placed there; then she laid her cheek ...
— Uncle Max • Rosa Nouchette Carey
... deaf, And following my will, I do not stand Accomptable to reason: See her Ring (The first pledge of your love, and service to her) Deliver'd as a Warrant for your death: These Bags of gold you gave up to her trust, (The use of which you did deny your self) Bestow'd on me, and with a prodigal ...
— The Spanish Curate - A Comedy • Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher
... Christmas, jolly soul! By this mansion's generous sieur! By the wine, and by the bowl, And all the joys they both inspire! Here I'll drink a health to all: The glorious task shall first be mine: And ever may foul luck befall Him that to pledge ...
— A Righte Merrie Christmasse - The Story of Christ-Tide • John Ashton
... Flemish factories are having fierce engagements and wars with them, according to the news received. It has been learned from some that they [i.e., the English] wish to ally themselves with us, so that we may together attack the Flemish. Although I am not in relations with those people, they pledge that those who do not confederate with them they will not fail to regard as enemies. Meanwhile, there is no permission from your Majesty to trade here; nor do they render the submission due, and which should be assigned to them. Still, so that we may proceed in the service of your Majesty with ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume XVIII, 1617-1620 • Various
... he had been led, some years before, to become an abstainer from all intoxicating drinks, and, remaining firm to his pledge throughout the course of his downward career, was thus saved from the rapid destruction which too frequently overtook those who to the exciting influences of gambling added the maddening stimulus of alcohol. But the constant mental fever under which he laboured was beginning to undermine a naturally-robust ...
— The Golden Dream - Adventures in the Far West • R.M. Ballantyne
... from the table. But hardly had the girl entered the apartment, and was about to run off with the stone, than the servant Prituitshkin, who was lying by the door, jumped up and exclaimed: "Is it not a shame for you, pretty girl, to rob your future lord and master! You must leave me now a pledge for your conduct." So saying, he drew off the maid's slipper and head-dress and dismissed her. Then the girl went to her mistress and told her the whole affair; but Dogada did not despair, and, after an hour, thinking that Goria and his servant Prituitshkin ...
— The Russian Garland - being Russian Falk Tales • Various
... he said: "O gods, how unwashed, how stern he looked—a pillar of antiquity, like one of the old bearded consuls; his dress plain plebeian purple, his hair tangled, his brow a very pledge for the Commonwealth! Such solemnity in his eye, such wrinkling of his forehead, that you would have said the State was resting on his head like the sky on Atlas. Here we thought we had a refuge. Here was the man to oppose the filth of Gabinius; his ...
— Caesar: A Sketch • James Anthony Froude
... with May-time and the songs of all singing birds in my heart—were it not for the others. But there is a higher morality. We must not hurt those others. We dare not steal our happiness from them. The future belongs to them, and we must not, dare not, sacrifice that future nor give it in pledge for our own happiness. Last night I came to you. I was weak—yes; more than that—I was ignorant. I did not know, even as late as last night, the monstrous vileness, the consummate wickedness of present-day conditions. I learned that today, this morning, and now. I learned that the morality of ...
— Theft - A Play In Four Acts • Jack London
... answered. "I will pledge Ingild's word, as I know I may, for any ransom, going after the Danes and finding Guthrum, who ...
— Wulfric the Weapon Thane • Charles W. Whistler
... said the Romans especially valued for his virtue and bravery, but who was excessively poor. Pyrrhus, in consequence of this, entertained Fabricius privately, and made him an offer of money, not as a bribe for any act of baseness, but speaking of it as a pledge of friendship and sincerity. As Fabricius refused this, Pyrrhus waited till the next day, when, desirous of making an impression on him, as he had never seen an elephant, he had his largest elephant placed behind Fabricius during their conference, concealed by a curtain. At a given signal, ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 2 • Various
... his ambitious brother, as was the amiable custom of those days, but treated his father's famous widow with great respect and generosity. He presented her with a magnificent palace, gave her an allowance of $1,250,000 a year and accepted her pledge that she would interfere no longer in politics. She survived nineteen years and devoted her time and talents thereafter and several millions of dollars to the construction of a tomb to the memory of her father, which still stands as one ...
— Modern India • William Eleroy Curtis
... known that I should learn to read; Though that was nothing, for my friends, who knew What mighty Dulness of itself could do, Never design'd me for a working priest, But hoped I should have been a Dean at least: Condemn'd, (like many more, and worthier men, To whom I pledge the service of my pen)[177] Condemn'd (whilst proud and pamper'd sons of lawn, Cramm'd to the throat, in lazy plenty yawn) 350 In pomp of reverend beggary to appear, To pray, and starve on forty pounds a-year: ...
— Poetical Works • Charles Churchill
... bedroom at his new abode McMurdo felt it safe to take out the coining moulds, and under many a pledge of secrecy a number of brothers from the lodge were allowed to come in and see them, each carrying away in his pocket some examples of the false money, so cunningly struck that there was never the slightest difficulty or danger in passing ...
— The Valley of Fear • Arthur Conan Doyle
... constable. The centre of a London crossing is not, however, a very advantageous spot for the performance of love passages. As they walked on, threading their way among the vehicles, Tom took his companion's hand in his, and they exchanged one firm grip, which each felt to be of the nature of a pledge. How sunny and bright the dull brick-lined streets appeared to those two young people that afternoon. They were both looking into a future which seemed to be one long vista of happiness and love. Of all the gifts of Providence, surely our want of knowledge of the things which are to come upon ...
— The Firm of Girdlestone • Arthur Conan Doyle
... heroic to form a marriage for which no human being can guess the inducement—what a glorious unaccountableness! All the world will wonder what the devil you could see in me; and, if you should doubt your singularity, I pledge myself to you that I never yet was endured by woman; so that I should owe every thing to the effect of your bounty, and not by my own superfluous deserts make it a debt, and so lessen both the obligation and my gratitude. In short, every other ...
— Memoirs of the Life of the Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan V1 • Thomas Moore
... venture a little farther than this. Look at it in this light. On what occasion would it be most probable that such a presentation would be made? When would his friends unite to give him a pledge of their good will? Obviously at the moment when Dr. Mortimer withdrew from the service of the hospital in order to start in practice for himself. We know there has been a presentation. We believe there has been a change from a town hospital ...
— Hound of the Baskervilles • Authur Conan Doyle
... called at that time was the Being who sees you now. What you gave in pledge was your honour, which you must redeem. Therefore thank Heaven that it is in your power to redeem it. By marrying Agatha the ransom's made: and she brings a dower greater than any princess can bestow—peace ...
— Lover's Vows • Mrs. Inchbald |
